NY Parent-Educator Group Outraged by Quality and Accuracy of Common Core Test Scores

New York released its 2014 test scores today. The proportion of students reaching “proficiency” English was flat, and there was a small increase in math. Unfortunately, in both subjects, a large majority of students in grades 3-8 were “not proficient.” As I have pointed out in earlier blogs, the Common Core tests in New York and elsewhere decided to adopt a very high bar for their definition of “proficiency.” It is aligned with the definition of proficiency in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which represents solid academic achievement, NOT “grade level.” There is only one state—Massachusetts–where as many as 50% of students have managed to reach proficiency on the NAEP. With such a high bar, the state knew that most students would be branded as failures, based on a grueling standardized test. With 64-68% of students “failing,” these results are likely to fuel the New York parent revolt against…